The UGA Small Business Development Center, a public service and outreach unit, is one of Georgia Trend magazine’s 2016 “Best Places to Work in Georgia.”
The evaluation, conducted by the Best Companies Group in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, looks at employees’ views on leadership and planning, corporate culture and communications, role satisfaction, work environment and overall engagement.
The SBDC program has 17 locations across Georgia and works with about 4,000 individual business owners and prospective entrepreneurs each year. In the past five years, SBDC-assisted firms have created more than 11,000 jobs, acquired more than $600 million in expansion and start-up capital, created more than 1,500 new businesses and are responsible for $8.9 billion in total sales. The most recent economic impact studies indicate that SBDC clients experience annual sales growth of 19.7 percent and employment growth of 19.6 percent.
Coordinated statewide by UGA, six of the SBDC’s 17 regional offices are located on the campuses of other University System of Georgia schools: Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Georgia Southern University, Valdosta State University, Clayton State University and the University of West Georgia.
